and wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in johannesburg, nairobi, new york city, atlanta, georgia, or in memphis, the cry is always the same. we want to be free. this global vision of the world led me to see that the african-american struggle was only one aspect of a worldwide struggle which i have come to see as history's greatest freedom struggle. during the past 2-1/2 centuries, a majority of humanity has overcome major systems of oppression. notably inherited forms of status based on race, class, and generalder. and this transformation of the world's peasants, and many of us are not too many generations removed from peasantery, has been the most important achievement of the modern age. * and i have learned that this freedom struggle has been accomplished not simply through this transformation accomplished not simply through freedom struggles, but through the mass migrationses that brought my parents out of the south toward opportunities in the north. and with that great transformation of peasants into citizens is still going on right here in san francisco and in calif